


'Tis The Season (Not to be Alone)

by knittersrevolt



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Mechanic Betty Cooper, Mistletoe, Tropes, Unreliable Narrator
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-27 06:29:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17156975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/knittersrevolt/pseuds/knittersrevolt
Summary: Once upon a time a boy and girl worked near each other but didn't know each other very well. One snowy Christmas in the small town of Riverdale and a whole lot of mistletoe will change that.





	'Tis The Season (Not to be Alone)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [loonyBibliophile](https://archiveofourown.org/users/loonyBibliophile/gifts).



Once upon a time, two people were working in a news office. It was a towering building, but the cubicles the two worked in were tiny little things. Their shared title of Copy Editor meant very little and was far less glamorous than it sounded. Sometimes when it was very late at night and the only lights in the building came from their lamps across the aisle from each other and the glowing green exit sign, they would talk.

“She literally just put _insert name of guy here_ in parenthesis instead of looking it up. How am I supposed to know who she meant? She expects me to track down the random person she was thinking of?” the girl would ask, sending waves of sound rolling over to him. She would get a soft exhale of a chuckle in response.

“Listen to this line, ‘He took her hand as she sees the light that will be coming from the lamp.’ That’s a lot of tenses to fit into one sentence.” After he spoke, she would throw a big, bright smile his way.

One day was just a little bit different. Instead of editing badly written articles submitted by strangers over the internet, the girl was tasked with decorating the offices.

“What are you doing?” the boy asked as she began hanging wreaths, baubles, and lights.

“I am creating a festive environment. The boss said I could take company time to set up, but I like sneaking around like an elf. I just love the idea of everyone leaving for the day and coming back to a winter wonderland.” With a deep breath of fresh pine and a smile, she returned to her work.

Every so often, he would glance back up to her. In those moments, a small grin would slide across his lips. 

“Oh come on, now that is just asking for trouble,” Jughead said as she began tacking up mistletoe. “In the age of MeToo, that is simply asking for a lawsuit. Harassment awaits. Besides, mistletoe can be deadly if you eat it.”

With a cheeky smirk, the girl said, “A kiss can be even deadlier if you mean it.”

“Did you just quote Batman Returns to me?”

“Didn’t you quote it to me first?” she shot back.

He leaned far back in his chair with a look of wonder. “Tell me, Catwoman, what are you doing this holiday season? Saving Gotham from corruption again?”

She sighed, lost in far away memories, “No, something far more sinister. For the first time in three years, I am going back to my hometown. I agreed to spend Christmas with my mother and my sister and her children.”

“To say you sound reluctant would be a massive understatement.” 

She chose to ignore that. “And you, Batman? Going to go roaming around your empty mansion?”

“Much like you, I am off to go see a parent I haven’t been in touch with for quite some time. My mother had custody of me for most of my teenage years. I told my old man that if he maintained sobriety for a full year, I would go spend a few holidays with him. He got his one year chip, so off I go.”

“Well I hope that it goes better than you think it will, Mr. Wayne.”

“Same to you, Ms. Kyle.”

What the boy and girl did not know yet was that they were headed to the same small, snowy town. 

++++++++++++

“Betty, would you please put that thing away and join our conversation at the table?” her mother asked, exasperated.

The girl huffed a sigh but typed out only a few more words before shutting down her laptop and walking over to the kitchen table. It was stacked up with cheery over decorated cookies. A steaming tea kettle full of untouched water sat on a knitted hot pad. None of the ladies normally cared for tea. It was more about the appearance. Alice wanted a picture perfect day. Betty didn’t know how to be that type of person. 

“This is so nice!” Polly said with what was the only genuine enthusiasm in the room. Her twins ran giggling circles around the kitchen island. “It’s been so long since us girls got together. Tell us all about your exciting new job, Betty.”

“I’ve been at that job for over a year now, so it’s not new or really that exciting. I catch spelling and grammar errors. I fill in the blanks that the other writers leave behind. I’ve submitted a few of my own articles. Even had a few approved. I get to make listicles that are thinly veiled advertisements for the product they’re looking to sell that week.”

Polly rolled her eyes. “I swear nothing is ever acceptable for you. You’re employed in your chosen field. Isn’t that enough? Isn’t there at least a boy who has been holding your attention? Some office romance that’s been perking up your days, maybe even your nights?”

“Betty!” Alice brimmed with excitement. “You didn’t tell me there was a new man in your life!”

“That’s because there is no new man in my life. What about you two? Aren’t either of you seeing anyone?”

“Oh, Betty,” Polly chided. “Mom and I already had the big loves of our lives.”

Betty side eyed her mother who shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Alice would never admit it out loud, but she hoped that Hal Cooper would not be the one great love of her life.

“So while Mom and I sit on the sidelines, we’d love to see you go a few rounds with a nice guy.”

All Betty could do was shake her head and reach for her keys. “I have some work left to do. I’ll catch up with you guys again later.”

Polly rolled her eyes. “Oh don’t be so dramatic.”

Betty was already out the door.

+++++++++++++++++++++

Jughead wasn't enjoying his reunion with his father very much either. 

The two sat in awkward silence sharing non-alcoholic beers and furtive glances. When his father said he was hungry, the boy jumped at the chance to leave the stifling walls of the tiny trailer and pick up burgers and fries.

You can imagine his surprise when he walked into Pop’s only to see the girl swirling a straw through a strawberry milkshake.

“Betty?”

She glanced up. “Jughead?”

He stepped out of line to go stand near her booth. “What in the world brings a girl like you to a place like this?”

“I grew up here. Riverdale born and raised.”

“Me too. Kind of. Southside.”

“Huh, it really is a small world.” She said it without a hint of a smile. Her straw continued to drag through the slush.

He slid into the seat next to her. “You look like someone who needs a few pennies for her thoughts.”

She sighed. “I love my family. I really do, but I just don’t like them all the time. They have all of these expectations that they heap on me because their lives didn’t go the way they’d expected.”

He took the liberty of trying her shake since she wasn’t really drinking it. He made a pleased sound before downing about half of it. She smirked when he shrugged his shoulders in an apology of sorts.

“Yeah, me too. Probably everybody. My Dad wants to hear about the big city life I’m not living. The one where I work a fast-paced, high paying job and date tons of beautiful women while trying to find ‘the one’.”

“Ugh. The One. As if there’s one person who can make all of your dreams come true and your woes a distant thing of the past. Why should anyone hinge all of their happiness on one person who has to be chasing after their own?”

And then the wheels began to turn in the boy’s mind. He had never been one for dishonesty or deception, but just this once, he thought maybe it could be the solution they were looking for.

“You know, we could kill two birds with one stone.”

“What birds? What stone?”

He scooted on the bench until he was facing her with one arm slung across the back of the seat. “What do we need during this vacation? We need our families to give us space to breathe. We need a little time away during the days and fewer invasive questions. How can we accomplish that?”

“No idea.”

He leaned just a hair closer. “We tell them we’re dating. My dad would totally understand if I were going out to meet up with a girl-”

“-and I could tell my family we are meeting up every time I need some space.” The girl was starting to pick up, but then began to droop again. “Who are we kidding? This can’t possibly work. Have you ever heard of something like this ever ending well?”

“Things like these always end badly because people have no exit strategy. They keep the lies going too long and give too much detail. Think about this, how often do you see real life grow up couples kiss or hold hands. Almost never! They stand close to each other. They whisper things and share looks. We can do that! I can also come to some family function as a barrier. You don’t have to tell anyone we broke up after unless they ask about me.”

She wiped a stray drop of condensation off her glass as she contemplated. “Just for the holidays?”

“Just for the holidays,” he confirmed.

And so they shook hands and agreed to provide each other with back up. They went back to their perspective house and answered questions about where they’d been and who they’d seen. 

Betty was unnerved answering with half truths. 

Jughead was filled with nothing but relief. 

They both went to bed that night thinking they’d made the right choice.

The next day at the Jones household, the littlest Jones arrived. Jughead was elated to see his sister, though as a high school graduate, she was hardly so little anymore. They talked about the college she was attending and how strange it was to be back in their hometown. 

As they drove down snowy streets just as a storm started to roll in, JB started asking those same questions he’d gotten before. They had wanted to go to a bakery in a nearby town, one of their Christmas Eve traditions. 

“So what’s this I hear from Dad about a girl?” JB asked with wiggling eyebrows.

He glared at her. She glared with furrowed eyes and half a smile back at him.

“There’s this girl I work with. She’s… fun. She’s got a great sense of humor. She’s the only person there I feel like I can really talk to. What can I say? I like her.”

The boy had chosen his words very carefully. For some reason, he felt as though he couldn’t lie to the youngest in the clan. 

“She’s here. In Riverdale. I didn’t even know until yesterday. I saw her at Pop’s.”

“Oooh La La! Did you share a shake with one straw?” JB let out full hard belly laugh as a slight blush crept across his cheeks.

“Now what the hell is this?” Jughead cried as smoke started to billow out from under the hood. “Of course we’re going to get caught in a blizzard with a broken down car.”

“You know that I work as an actual mechanic, right? Pull over and pop the hood.”

He did as he was told but still felt the need to warn her about the ever quickening pace of snow falling from the sky. 

“Relax, you old coot. I’m sure it’s nothing.”

Ten minutes later, Jughead called for a tow while JB complained. “I just need another half an hour. And a wrench. And a part or two.”

“So you need a professional garage,” Jughead argued in return.

From out of the darkness on the back road came the headlights of the big truck. The beams bounced bright yellow light off of the flurries blinding the siblings with its approach. They had to shield their eyes from the glare, obscuring the figure walking toward them.

“Well, well, Batman. We meet again.”

“Catwoman? You own a tow truck?”

“Oh My God. She owns a tow and she calls you Batman? No one thinks you’re _that_ cool. You should go sweep her off her feet. This is the girl, right? In any case, you two go ahead, I got this.” JB leaned back under the hood.

Jughead huffed in annoyance. “My sister thinks she can fix this despite having no time or tools. Can you please talk some sense into her?”

“Hell no! You never come between a girl and her car if you want to keep your fingers.”

“Exactly! Thank you!”

“But-” Betty threw a wink to Jughead, “-what I can offer you is a tow to our garage so you can at least fix it without the snow getting in the way. Plus, we have tools. And coffee.”

“Fine! You win! But I’m not paying for the use of tools!”

Betty held her hand up in surrender. “We won’t charge time or labor. Just the cost of parts.”

“Wholesale?”

“Retail. A girl’s got to make money somehow.”

“I respect that.” The girls shook hands and Betty began hooking up the car.

As the girl worked, JB pulled her brother aside. “You’re going to marry her. Make many babies.”

“Slow the fuck down. We’re barely dating.”

“Sure, Mr. Moon-eyes.”

When they arrived at the garage, the snow was really starting to come down.

“Need any help?” Betty offered with a shiver.

“Take no offense, but I prefer working alone. I hate having another pair of hands working the same car as me unless there’s something I can’t lift.”

And so the pair ended up in the tiny office huddled near the heater with two cups of watery hot cocoa in their hands. The office was cluttered and clearly had seen better days.

“A mechanic, huh? I’m learning so much about you.”

“My dad taught me how to fix cars. After he left, my mom and I scraped together enough money to buy this place. Luckily, business boomed long enough for us to hire some locals. This place payed my college tuition. When I’m in town, I take over for the guys on the holidays. They like the break from work, I like the break from Mom. It’s a win win.”

“Sorry I didn’t call you today. JB just got into town. Your dad left, huh? Did he move out of town or did he just leave the family?”

“He left for prison,” Betty said without making eye contact. She just swirled her drink.

“Shit. I’m sorry. The same thing happened with mine. Mom got fed up with the drinking, and just as she was filing for divorce, he got arrested. Technically, I think we left him. This is the first time JB and I have both been here for Christmas since we were little.”

“The whole criminal dad thing really sucks, doesn’t it? You kind of want to see him and ask why he’d throw you away, but you don’t want to go to the facility and get searched just for that, and you don’t want to make him feel worse because he raised you.”

Jughead let out a humorless chuckle. “There’s a fun mix of guilt and anger and sadness.”

Betty laid a hand on his. “This is nice though. Having someone who gets it.”

“Yeah.” He smiled. “It really is.”

Out of the corner of his eye, a flash of white caught his attention. “You put mistletoe above the door.”

She giggled. “I did. What can I say? I’m a sucker for the classics.”

“How come I didn’t get a kiss walking in here?” It felt boldly flirtatious to say such a thing. 

“Don’t you know adult couples don’t actually kiss?” she said with a giggle.

“Using my own words against me. That’s cold, Cooper.”

“If you two are done being adorable, I’ve finished the car.”

They hadn’t realized just how close they’d crept to each each other until they were startled apart.

Betty cleared her throat. “You know, it’s an awfully far way to the Southside in this kind of weather. My mom would love the extra company and the tow can get anywhere. You guys want to head my way?”

That really startled Jughead. “You want me to meet your mom? Today? Right now?”

“You mean I could get to watch Jughead meet the parents for the first time? Live? Oh, I am so in! We’re doing this, Jug. It’s happening.” JB raced to the truck and hopped in. “We can come back for the car later. I’ll call Dad on the way.”

Jughead used his eyes to plead with Betty. She just shrugged. He whispered, “Oh, come on! Meeting parents was never part of the deal! This was to get away from parents. Alone time, not extra family togetherness.”

“I can’t let you two drive home in this mess!” The snow really was creating a mess. There were already six inches on the ground and it was growing rapidly. “I could drop you two off at your Dad’s if you like, but I’m sure JB will make me come in for a while. Either you come meet mine or I go meet yours. Your choice.”

What could he possibly say to that? 

And so, the boy reluctantly climbed into the cab of the truck with the girls and headed out for the Cooper household. The ride was easy enough despite Jughead’s nerves. The girls got along swimmingly. They chatted non-stop but managed to let him get in a few words. But then they arrived.

Betty called out that she’d brought a few extra guests to Christmas Eve and out came the golden haired women. Alice and Polly had perfectly curled blonde locks like Betty. Two eight year olds were decorating cookies with abandon. 

“Mom, this is Jughead and his sister, JB.”

Alice popped a hip and stared them down. “No. It isn’t.”

Betty looked between the pair with growing confusion. “Uh, yes it is?”

“Oh no. That is Forsythe Pendleton Jones The Third. I would recognize that jawline from a mile away.” She took a startled Jughead’s chin in her fingers and moved it this way and that.

“I take it you know F.P.?” he said with his face still in the grip.

“Used to.” She let go to point a finger at him. “If you fall anywhere close to the family tree-”

“Oh my God, Mom!” Betty swatted at the finger and stood between them. “Stop interrogating my boyfriend just because you knew his dad a million years ago!” 

Alice backed off but her face didn’t let up. “Since it’s Christmas Eve we are going to decorate cookies, drink eggnog, and then watch the original _Grinch Who Stole Christmas._ ”

“That sounds awesome,” JB said with genuine enthusiasm. As Alice stalked back to the kitchen, JB whispered to Jughead, “I’m so happy I was here for this. This is the greatest Christmas Miracle I could have asked for. Please make out in front of her so I can watch her head explode.”

He jabbed a finger into her side. “Hey! At least I said please!”

In all truth, it really was a pleasant night after that. Alice might have been a little cold, but Polly was warm and welcoming. The twins sang along with the movie and then sat in rapt attention as their grandmother read Harry Potter to them until it was time for them to go to bed. 

All the while, the boy and girl sat side by side. They hadn’t anticipated how warm they would feel, both inside and out, with having someone to lean on. Betty liked having someone to roll her eyes with when her mother was being overbearing. Jughead liked being able to bump his shoulder with someone when there was a joke only they would understand.

Yes, it was a very pleasant evening.

Sometime after midnight, Jughead realized that JB had fallen asleep in the big chair near the fire. He turned to say as much to Betty only to find her just as deeply asleep, resting back against his chest and arm.

“Well, I guess that settles that,” Alice said quietly. “You two are staying the night. I’ll throw some blankets over the girls. If I come down here in the morning and find you in Betty’s bed, there will be hell to pay, mister.”

Jughead nodded solemnly. When Alice was done tucking a blanket around Betty’s shoulders, she gently moved a bit of hair away from her daughter’s face.

“For what it’s worth, I don’t hate you. Betty deserves someone kind. Be kind to her.” Just like that, Alice was gone and Jughead was alone with his girls. It didn’t take long for him to drift off either.

He awoke, as Betty did, to the sounds of the twins’ feet pounding down the stairs. They excitedly chattered about Christmas and presents as Polly herded them off to the kitchen to grab cinnamon rolls before they could open presents. Everyone else headed to the restrooms or to grab coffee before reconvening. 

Betty hoped it would be okay to curl into Jughead again after she filled her mug. The way he relaxed into her let her know it was. “Do you guys want to head out to your dad’s after coffee?”

JB shook her head. “We have some time. I told Dad we’d be home around noon. He always used to sleep in till 10 and forget to wrap presents. We’ll spend the day with him.”

“Well,” Alice said. “I wasn’t expecting you two so I don’t have anything under the tree for you. Betty, a little warning would be nice next time.”

“Actually, I got something for Jughead.” She grabbed a red plaid present out from under the pine.

“You did? I didn’t get anything for you,” he said chagrined.

“I know we said we wouldn’t exchange presents, but I saw it and thought of you.”

He ripped into it. It was a keyboard fashioned like a typewriter. When he took it down and pressed on the keys, it even made the satisfying ‘clack’ noise like a real typewriter. 

“It’s beautiful. I love it.” He took the time to look her in the eyes to show her how sincere he was. “Honestly it’s one of the best presents I’ve ever gotten.”

“Hey, Aunty Betty!” Juniper giggled wildly from behind the pair.

“What’s up?”

“Look up!” Above them, Juniper was holding up a bit of mistletoe.

“Okay, seriously, does this family buy stock in mistletoe?” Jughead joked.

“You two have ta’ kiss! It’s the rules,” she said in all seriousness.

“It is the rule.” Betty said breathlessly.

“Well then, I better kiss you.”

That first kiss was the stuff of legends. Sweet and firm and full of promise. They broke apart with twin blushes when the family let out a cheer. Even Alice seemed a little pleased.

Betty moved her mouth very close to Jughead’s ear. “If you’d be willing, I think what I’d really like for Christmas is a real boyfriend.”

Jughead grinned at her. “I think that can be arranged.”

Then they shared their second kiss of many more to come.

The End.


End file.
